GeekWire update: New offices, big events and top stories of the month

GeekWire was on the move in the month of October — literally and figuratively.

We hosted our big Startup Day conference, an all-day event featuring amazing talks by some of the region’s most inspiring entrepreneurs. Thanks to everyone who participated, and especially to those speakers who shared insights from the startup trenches.

Many of the talks were full of raw emotion, with advice not only on how to build a better startup, but simply how to live a better life. I know we learned a lot, and there will certainly be lessons that we apply to our own startup here at GeekWire.

Team GeekWire checking out our new offices before moving in.

We’ve even coined a phrase around here as it relates to one of the talks — “BC” or “Before Cotter.” That’s a reference to SquareHub founder Dave Cotter’s emotionally-charged talk “The Big Exit,” a stark reminder of how important it is to take care of yourself (and those around you) as you head down the startup path.

Speaking of that path, our own voyage took a fortuitous turn this past month as we secured our first “official” office space. Yes, we’re now located in “The Center of the Universe” — a stone’s throw from Google, Tableau and a host of smaller startup companies in Seattle’s burgeoning Fremont neighborhood.

It’s exciting to finally find a home, a place to call our own.

We’ve done the startup shuffle for a couple years now, initially working out of our developer’s offices in Pioneer Square before moving on to coffee shops in Greenwood and sharing a small space inside the Buuteeq offices in Ballard. (A big thanks to the team at Rainspark Labs/Artifact Technologies for giving us a temporary landing spot for the past few months.)

GeekWire Chief Business Officer Daniel Rossi works his magic with the steam cleaner in the new offices.

Securing our own office represents a big milestone for us. We’re growing up as a company, moving from that bootstrappy phase into a more stable enterprise. That brings with it a new set of challenges and opportunities, and we’re excited about tackling those in the months and years to come as we look to create a new type of media company.

(Real estate trivia: The space we’re taking was previously occupied by Penny Arcade, and it has been fun running into some of the remnants of their tenure there, including some of their plans and notes on the white boards.)

But we’re excited about the next phase of growth as we stay committed to our role as storytellers and journalists.

Speaking of journalism, it was an incredibly busy month on the news front. Hot tech topics popped up nearly ever day, and our audience continued to grow. As I like to do, here’s a look back at the top stories of the month.

Thanks to everyone for tuning in to GeekWire. We appreciate your ongoing support, and we look forward to seeing many of you at our big holiday bash — the GeekWire Gala — on Dec. 4th. It’s going to be a great party, where we’ll be recognizing GeekWire’s Newsmakers of the Year and introducing the Seattle 10 project. We look forward to connecting with you in person at the newly-opened Museum of History & Industry.

Without further ado, here’s a look at the top stories this past month.